Smartphones - The Challengers

Over the past couple of weeks we have seen a number of high profile smartphone releases. Specifically the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (previously known as the Nexus Prime) and the first Nokia handsets running Windows Phone. So are they worth a look and how do they match up to the iPhone 4S?

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

As with the previous Nexus handsets (Nexus One, Nexus S), the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the new flagship Google Android device, created in collaboration between Samsung and Google. As you can see from the image below, the handset has a striking design, with a curved glass display.

The design is backed up by a massive 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display (1280x720), dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB storage options, a 5-Megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3-Megapixel front-facing camera and finally NFC technology for wireless payments, as well as the new Android Beam sharing app.

I think it's fair to say that the Galaxy Nexus hardware looks great (although the screen is a little large for me), but the real story here is that this is the first handset to run Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). This new operating system aims to merge the best parts of Honeycomb (Android 3.0) and Gingerbread (Android 2.2), as well as reduce the current fragmentation (and confusion) that plagues the Android market.

Anyone familiar with Honeycomb should immediately be at home, as Ice Cream Sandwich has brought the 3D-effect UI from the tablet to the smartphone. This looks great (a major step forward in my opinion) and continues the "TRON like" look, with the familiar horizontal homescreens which can be swiped across and filled with apps and/or widgets.

Other new features include a new lock screen, allowing the front-facing camera to be used for facial-recognition. Although this had some issues in the Google live demo, it has been proven to work well and is a very cool way to activate your handset.

We also have a completely new browser which offers tabbed browsing (like iOS 5.0), as well as a new Gmail app which enables offline use. The camera application has also seen a major upgrade, with built in image editing and manipulation (think Photo Booth on the Mac). Google have also finally seen fit to include an integrated task manager, allowing you to easily kill off any rogue applications, without the need for a third party app.

The best way to appreciate Ice Cream Sandwich is to checkout the launch event video below:

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus should be available in the UK from November, or you can pre-order now from Amazon for £549.

Nokia Lumia Series

Another eagerly anticipated launch took place this week in London, with Nokia unveiling their first Windows Phone handsets. The flagship model is the Nokia Lumia 800 (previously known as Sea Ray), which, as expected, looks very similar to the much loved, but recently killed Nokia N9 (MeeGo Device).

 

Just like the Nokia N9, the handset looks great, but I feel the specification is a little underwhelming for a flagship product. It includes a 3.7inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, a 1.4GHz processor and comes with 16GB of internal memory as well as 25GB of cloud storage free via SkyDrive. It also includes an 8MP Carl Zeiss lens with 720p HD-recording at 30fps.

Although the processor looks good (even if it is only single core), the lack of front facing camera, 1080p video recording, larger storage options and NFC (found in the Nokia N9) makes this handset good, but not great, especially when compared with the competition from Apple and Google (maybe a good time to remind yourself of the Galaxy Nexus specification above).

On the software front, the Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Nokia handset to use the Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) operating system. I have always defended the Windows Phone operating system and believe it has great potential, however I still feel that it's at least one year behind the competition. It will be interesting to see how quickly Microsoft can catch-up and if this new partnership with Nokia will result in the sales both companies have been desperately looking for.

Alongside the Lumia 800, Nokia also announced the Lumia 710, which also runs the Windows Phone operating system, but aims to be sold at a cheaper price. Industry analysts believe the handsets will be available from November, but we are still waiting from Nokia to announce official details.

The Nokia N9 and "Sea Ray"

It's been an odd couple of weeks for Nokia. On the 21st June they announced the new N9, which is the first smartphone to run the MeeGo operating system. This was always gong to be a strange product launch, as Nokia had already stated that this would be the first and last MeeGo device they ship, as their strategy is to transition all of their smartphones to the Windows Phone 7 operating system. 

However this is where the story gets interesting, because instead of the N9 being dead on arrival (like many had predicted), it has actually been very well reviewed, with high praise going to the MeeGo operating system. Meaning that ironically, the company that has been desperately searching for a competitive smartphone operating system to replace Symbian, may have had what they were looking the entire time.

Unfortunately, regardless of the potential of the N9 and MeeGo, it looks like this ship has sailed, as Stephen Elop (Nokia CEO) has firmly placed the future of Nokia in Microsoft's hands. Although this may still turn out to be the right move for Nokia in the long run, personally I would have taken more interest in MeeGo, which looks like it could be very competitive and Nokia could have directly controlled its destiny, making it their own operating system (instead of being tied to Microsoft).

Take a look at the short video from Engadget of the N9 and MeeGo below:

So what about Windows Phone 7 and Nokia? Well, in what feels like an attempt to prove that the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft is real, a few days after the N9 annoucement Elop gave us a sneak peak at the first Nokia Windows Phone device, codenamed "Sea Ray". The unveiling of the device can be seen below in a very odd PR video, where Elop pleads with the crowd not to film their "top secret" work, before hours later officially releasing the full video online.

Overall it looks like the Sea Ray hardware is similar to the N9, except it is running Windows Phone 7 (Mango). Like the N9, the device looks very nice and as for Windows Phone 7, well, it's Windows Phone 7 (you've seen one, you've seen them all). I guess we'll have to wait and see how Nokia's Microsoft driven strategy plays out over the next few years, but it is starting to feel like a move that will favor Microsoft, and after all, it would take a bold person to buy a device that has already been given its death sentence.

Nokia & Microsoft

The biggest news inTECH over the past week was from Nokia's Capital Markets Day event held in London, where Stephen Elop (Nokia CEO) announced the widely rumoured strategic partnership between Nokia and Microsoft.

I've had a feeling this was coming since October, when Steve Ballmer mentioned at the Microsoft Cloud Development conference in London, that he had just returned from Finland (the home of Nokia). 

This could have a massive impact on the mobile market and is a significant change for Nokia, both strategically and culturally. I have done my best to summarise the main points of the partnership:

• Nokia will adopt Windows Phone (replacing Symbian) as its primary smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.

• Nokia will help drive and define the future of Windows Phone. Nokia will contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.

• Nokia and Microsoft will closely collaborate on development, joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.

• Bing will power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft adCenter will provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.

• Nokia’s content and application store will be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

• The Nokia / Microsoft deal is not exclusive, however does grant Nokia the ability to make deeper customisations to Windows 7, if required.

The full press announcement from the event can be seen below:

Personally, I believe this is a great opportunity for both companies. Nokia have been struggling to compete in the smartphone world since the launch of the iPhone, primarily because they didn't have access to a decent smartphone operating system. Nokia do however have a truly global reach, with a wealth of knowledge on how to operate across the different countries.

Microsoft, on the other hand, have the foundations of an excellent smartphone operating system (Windows Phone 7), but have a mixed past when it comes to hardware and up to this point didn't have the correct channels to market and sell their mobile products globally.

Therefore, Nokia can hopefully bring iconic hardware design and global reach, while Microsoft can bring the competitive smartphone operating system and synergy with other key products, such as enterprise integration, office, search and Xbox.

To show what is possible, the following concept designs have already been released and I must say, they are looking good!

Since the launch of the iPhone, the mobile industry has been in overdrive and this partnership could be another game changer. Will this secure Microsoft's place as the number three operating system? Could they even start to directly compete against Apple and Google? Willl this be the turnaround Nokia has been waiting for, or will the change in culture be the beginning of the end for the company? And what about HP (Palm) WebOS, where does this other great mobile operating system fit? So many questions, but one thing is for sure, this heated competition is perfect for the consumer, resulting in faster innovation and more competitive pricing.

For more information head over to Nokia's "Conversations" blog.